Cops Rob the Blind at the Horseshoe

Yes, folks, the cops got to play robbers in a heavy battle for the blinds in three poker tournaments during the recent weeklong International Police & Fire Games in Las Vegas. More than 3,900 policemen and firemen from all over the United States – as well as Russia, Australia, France, and 14 other foreign nations – traveled to Las Vegas to compete for the gold medals and the glory of victory in a series of games similar to the Olympics in Athens. Events included sports such as arm wrestling, swimming, basketball, and marksmanship, plus three poker tournaments in which the world's finest defenders of the public safety fired in their bets and dueled to the finish.

Binion's Horseshoe hosted the poker competitions, which were directed by Detective James Mitchell of the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department with the assistance of his wife, Regina, retired from the Nevada Highway Patrol. Trophies were donated for the tournament winners, as were door prizes for the 368 men and women who played in the events. Don Vines, professional tournament poker player and co-author of How to Win No-Limit Hold'em Tournaments (our upcoming book), acted as poker tournament coordinator and enlisted my assistance as "celebrity host." Don and I were available before the start of each event and during the breaks to give free strategy advice to any policemen who wanted to dodge getting ticketed at the table, and any firemen looking forward to firing it up at the tournament.

Nile Carson

I took special pride and pleasure in coaching Nile Carson, recently retired Deputy Police Chief of Reno, Nevada. Don brought Nile over to me for a quick 15-minute lesson just before the no-limit hold'em championship event started. I wasn't sure how much Nile could absorb in that short a time frame, but I threw the book at him, so to speak. Everything fell into place for him and he won the $6,700 first-place prize money, plus international bragging rights for centuries to come. I couldn't have been prouder if I had won the 124-player event myself. Although he gave my advice a lot of credit for his victory, he was the one playing his cards, not I. Here's a tip of the Stetson to Nile, who also is the past president of the FBI National Academy Associates Inc.

Nile was a fast study who learned one very important concept about tournament poker that helped lead him to victory. "The advice you gave me about blind stealing from late position did two things for me," he e-mailed me. "It built me one helluva chip lead, and it generated fear in my opponents, followed by anger. Essentially, it helped bring their emotions into play, rather than their thinking or analytic skills." He admitted that he almost let things get to him, too, at the final table. "Instead of allowing them to knock each other off as you suggested, I let my emotions get temporarily in my way and ended up being the chip follower instead of the chip leader. I had to fall back to the basics to regain my chip lead." Michael Galarita, of the Seattle, Washington, police department, took second place for $3,400; and Paul Hernandez, of the Downey, California, police department, came in third for $2,620.

In the opening seven-card stud tournament, Wendell Phillips, of the Sacramento County, California, sheriffs office, bested a field of 88 players for $4,215. Tom Lockinger, of the Nevada Gaming Control Board, took second for $2,100; and James P. Carter, of the Santa Fe Railroad, won $1,220 for third place. The largest tournament was the limit hold'em event, which attracted 156 entrants. John Martinolich, of the Las Vegas City fire department, won the gold medal and $9,000. Phil Harris, of the Las Vegas Metro P.D., took home $4,300 for second place, and Greg Scheirer, from the Prince George County, Maryland, police department, won $2,800 for third place.

Detective Mitchell, who has directed the poker tournaments during the National Police & Fire Games in Las Vegas for several years, commented, "This is the first time since the Games began in 1977 that the international event has been held here in Vegas, and I was very pleased with the terrific turnout and positive response we had for our poker tournaments."

I wish I could end this column with my customary, "See you in the winner's circle next year at the police and fire poker tournaments," but not being a member of that elite group, I'll have to leave that up to my newest student, no-limit hold'em champion Nile Carson.

Editor's note: Tom McEvoy is the author of Championship Tournament Poker and the co-author, with T.J. Cloutier, of Championship No-Limit & Pot-Limit Hold'em and Championship Tournament Practice Hands. His books are available through Card Player.